Legal Compliance Guidance

Legal Disclaimer

All information on this website, and all publications, articles, email correspondence, and telephone consultations provided by Council attorneys and legal staff are intended for informational purposes only and not as part of an attorney-client relationship. Council attorneys are not licensed in every state and cannot provide legal representation. The information is not a substitute for expert legal, tax, or other professional advice tailored to your specific circumstances and may not be relied upon for the purpose of avoiding any penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code. Council members may email legal@cof.org with inquiries and for more information.

Displaying 81 - 96 of 133 results

Substantiating Contributions to Donor-Advised Funds

Legal Compliance Guidance, Fundamentals
What requirements must our foundation follow for substantiating contributions to donor-advised funds? To claim a charitable, gift or estate tax deduction for any contribution to a donor-advised fund, donors must obtain a contemporaneous written acknowledgement from the sponsoring organization that…

State Charitable Solicitation Compliance

External Resource, Legal Compliance Guidance
Most states have registration and/or reporting laws that apply to nonprofit organizations soliciting contributions within the state. Information about registration is available through individual states or the Multi-State Filer Project.

Conducting a Raffle Fundraiser

Legal Compliance Guidance
Community foundations occasionally consider conducting a raffle as a way to raise money for a particular fund. The plan may be to do a raffle as a standalone fundraiser or as part of another community foundation event. In many cases, donors approach community foundations asking to conduct the…

Rules Governing Non-Component Funds

Legal Compliance Guidance
Historical background of non-component and donor-directed funds.

FAQ: Agency Endowment Funds

Legal Compliance Guidance, Fundamentals
What is an agency endowment?  What types of organization can establish an agency endowment at a community foundation? When a public charity establishes an agency endowment at a community foundation, which organization owns the contributed funds? Since the agency is releasing legal…

IRS Publication 4302: A Charity's Guide to Car Donations

Legal Compliance Guidance, External Resource
Types of car donation programs and their impact on tax-exempt status, taxable income, and deductible contributions.

Gifts of Tangible Personal Property

Legal Compliance Guidance
A donor is considering starting a fund at the community foundation using a piece of jewelry instead of a cash gift. The jewelry cost her $1,000 (35 years ago) and is now worth $20,000. May the community foundation accept the gift? What documentation must the community foundation prepare? From the…

Gifts of Property: What to Know Before You Say Yes

Legal Compliance Guidance
There is always the temptation, particularly among newly established community foundations, to accept any type of contribution. When a contribution consists of property other than cash, however, it must be determined if it is in the community foundation’s best interests to accept such property. Are…

FAQ: Fundraising for Community Foundations

Legal Compliance Guidance, Fundamentals
Raising money for community needs is the central function of community foundations. No surprise, then, that we receive more questions about fundraising than about any other topic. Following are some common inquiries we receive by telephone and e-mail and the replies we give. Documents for Donors…

Accepting Non-Cash Gifts as Charitable Contributions

Legal Compliance Guidance
Accepting gifts of real estate, subchapter S corporations, and business interests (including general partnerships, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, and limited liability companies), as well as determining when or if they trigger unrelated business tax (UBIT).

Taxable Distributions for Donor-Advised Funds

Legal Compliance Guidance, Fundamentals
Public charities that hold donor-advised funds must comply with special rules regarding payments from such funds. Provisions under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 require certain payments from donor-advised funds to be made using expenditure responsibility, while certain other payments are…

Grants to Organizations from Donor-Advised Funds: Is Expenditure Responsibility Required?

Legal Compliance Guidance
Use this flowchart to determine if grants from donor-advised funds require expenditure responsibility.

Providing Large Grants to Small Grantees

Legal Compliance Guidance
Lawyers rarely tell foundation managers, "Relax, don’t worry so much!" But in the case of "tipping," that’s been our advice for more than 10 years. What is the so-called "tipping problem" and why are so many foundations (still) so worried about it?   Tipping occurs when a private…

What to Require of Grantees

Fundamentals, Legal Compliance Guidance
Good relationships between grantmakers and grantees promote more effective philanthropy. But there's nothing that can mess up a good partnership faster than an overzealous lawyer. In seeking to protect their foundation clients, lawyers can sometimes impose excessive requirements on grantees,…

To Check or Not to Check: Complying With OFAC Regulations

Legal Compliance Guidance
After September 11, 2001, many grantmakers and other charitable organizations that were not previously familiar with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), learned of its existence. As one of the key U.S. government agencies seeking to shut down terrorism funding…

The Debate Over Anti-Terrorism Certification

Legal Compliance Guidance
In an effort to ensure that charitable resources are used exclusively for charitable purposes and not used to support terrorist activity, organizations may choose to adopt practices in addition to those explicitly required by law. Among the practices that some charities choose to adopt is including…

Questions?

Connect with Council Staff
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on all